Our Founding Team

The Story

After persevering through the COVID-19 pandemic, we found ourselves in a world that looked completely different. In our Bay Area community, we noticed the financial instability all around us. As members of the Bellarmine Cross Country team, our daily training runs through the Guadalupe River trail (right by the San Jose Mineta Airport) gave us first-hand perspectives on the growing number of unhoused people who were especially affected by the pandemic. Over time, we realized just how many people in our community depended on the Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley for daily sustenance. 

So, we took action. We decided to combine our passion for running with a desire to fight food insecurity by founding Steps4SMILEs, an organization that hosts 5K/10K charity races to benefit Second Harvest. Planning and executing our first event was certainly a challenge, but with the incredible support of our Bellarmine community, we 'ran' a successful race!

We hope our efforts will continue to bring the community together to support those who have suffered from unfortunate circumstances and empower teenagers like ourselves to take action. Thank you for your support and we hope to see you at our future races!